There was a time one hundred years ago when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone that people were skeptical just as they were at any time in history when change was inevitable or a great new idea or invention materialized. It happened with Christopher Columbus’ designs on sailing to the New World and just about with everything else. People were afraid the telephone would ruin civilization, hurt relationships, break up families…Today it is no different with social media, the online places and sites where people are in constant communing with one another and simultaneously—potentially—millions. Amazingly, people are skittish and afraid. Eventually with time they will come around with social media. No doubt, it’s here to stay as a primary source of communication that will continue to evolve.
Facebook and Linkedin.com are among the most used and widely known. But many companies fear the power of social media and how staff can hurt their image, give away their secrets and in general waste time and money by employees who veg out on these sites during working hours. Did you know that today, even some big-name bank corporations do not allow access to Linkedin.com on their computers? Some agencies have closed out Facebook access from their IT systems? (Sounds a little like Egypt, doesn’t it?) Eventually, like everything else, the corporate world will not feel it necessary to “block” social media sites. In fact, it’s the wise business, big or small, that realizes the endless benefits to be gained by dipping into the keyboard and clicking a mouse on the screen. Change is a process, sometimes a lengthy one with ten steps backwards for every one step forward. Give it time. The social media concept is still very new on the timeline of civilization.
